The document summarizes the results of a survey about customer preferences for tone in email customer support. Most customers generally prefer a casual tone. However, using the wrong tone at the wrong time, like being casual when denying a request, can negatively impact customer satisfaction for 78% of respondents. Elements like emoticons were seen as too informal by 35% of customers, while few customers found any elements too formal.

1. Survey: Optimizing Tone
for Email Customer Support

2. To help CSS agents understand when to use a friendly, casual tone and when to
keep things serious and formal, Software Advice conducted an online survey
examining what kind of tone people prefer in various email-support situations.
We collected data data to address the following questions:
• What are customers’ general preferences as to tone in email customer service?
• To what degree would a CSS agent’s using the wrong tone at the wrong time
(e.g., casual language in a sensitive situation) damage customer satisfaction?
• Are there are specific textual elements (e.g., emoticons) that most customers
almost always find inappropriately casual or formal in email customer service?
Abstract

3. Most Customers Generally Prefer a Casual Tone
Of those who indicated a preference, 65 percent of respondents preferred a casual
tone in email support correspondence, with 35 percent preferring a formal tone.
35%
65%
Casual
Formal

4. Impact of Support Agent’s Tone on Customer Satisfaction
78 percent said agents’ using a casual tone when denying them a request would
have at least some negative impact on their customer satisfaction.
22%
78%
Tone impacts satisfaction
Tone has no impact on satisfaction
65%
35%
Granting Request
with Formal Tone
Denying Request
with Casual Tone

5. Degree to Which Support Agent’s Tone Impacts Satisfaction
Of those impacted, most (78 percent) said that they would be at least “moderately
less satisfied” if a CSS agent used a casual tone when denying a request.
Percent of sample
Denying request with casual tone
Granting request with formal tone
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
Much less satisfied Moderately less satisfied Slightly less satisfied

6. Elements Customers Find Too Casual for Support Emails
A significant number of respondents (35 percent) found the use of emoticons, such
as smiley faces, to be too informal for email customer support.
Emoticons
Very colloquial words
Exclamation points
None of the above
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50%
Percent of sample

7. Elements Customers Found Too Formal for Support Emails
Sixty-seven percent said they didn’t find any of the given options to be intrinsically
too formal, with fewer than 20 percent disapproving of any single textual element.
Formal greetings and sign-offs
Courtesy titles
Not using contractions
None of the above
0% 15% 30% 45% 60% 75%
Percent of sample

8. Software Advice™ is a trusted resource for software buyers. The company's
website, www.softwareadvice.com, provides detailed reviews, comparisons and
research to help organizations choose the right software. Meanwhile, the company’s
team of software analysts provide free telephone consultations to help each
software buyer identify systems that best fit their needs. In the process, Software
Advice connects software buyers and sellers, generating high-quality opportunities
for software vendors.
@SoftwareAdvice /company/software-advice
@SoftwareAdvice/SoftwareAdvice
Read about our findings in more detail.Read Report